Mission type | Long-duration expedition |
---|---|
Operator | NASA / Roscosmos |
Mission duration | 191 days and 20 hours |
Expedition | |
Space station | International Space Station |
Began | 27 September 2023 [1] |
Ended | 6 April 2024 |
Arrived aboard | Soyuz MS-24 SpaceX Crew-7 Soyuz MS-25 SpaceX Crew-8 |
Departed aboard | Soyuz MS-24 SpaceX Crew-7 |
Crew | |
Crew size | 7 |
Members |
|
EVAs | 2 |
EVA duration | 14 hours 23 minutes |
Mission patch Top row, from left: Chub, Borisov, Kononenko, Furukawa and O'Hara Bottom row: Mogensen and Moghbeli |
Expedition 70 was the 70th long-duration expedition to the International Space Station. The expedition began with the departure of Soyuz MS-23 on 27 September 2023 [2] [3] [4] with Danish astronaut Andreas Mogensen taking over the ISS command. It ended with the departure of Soyuz MS-24 on 6 April 2024. [5]
Initially, the expedition consisted of Andreas and his three SpaceX Crew-7 crewmates, Jasmin Moghbeli, Satoshi Furukawa, and Konstantin Borisov from America, Japan, and Russia respectively, as well as Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko (who later assumed the ISS command) and Nikolai Chub (both on a year long ISS mission), and another American astronaut Loral O'Hara, who launched aboard Soyuz MS-24 on September 15, 2023 and were transferred from Expedition 69 alongside the SpaceX Crew-7 astronauts. [6]
However, even after several months of outfitting EVAs and RTOd heat radiator installation, six months later on 9 October 2023, the Nauka RTOd radiator malfunctioned before active use of Nauka (the purpose of RTOd installation is to radiate heat from Nauka experiments). The malfunction, a leak, rendered the RTOd radiator unusable for Nauka. This is the third ISS radiator leak after Soyuz MS-22 and Progress MS-21 radiator leaks. If a spare RTOd is not available, Nauka experiments will have to rely on Nauka's main launch radiator and the module could never be utilized to its full capacity. [7] [8]
The crew was later replenished by subsequent crew rotation missions in the expedition, SpaceX Crew-8, consisting of American astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, Jeanette Epps, and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin, and Soyuz MS-25, consisting of Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitsky, Belarusian space tourist Marina Vasilevskaya, and American astronaut Tracy Caldwell-Dyson. [5] Originally, the Boeing Starliner Crewed Flight Test was supposed to dock during the expedition. Instead, it was again moved farther down the vehicle schedule to May during Expedition 71. [9] The space station was also visited by a non-expedition crew, Axiom Mission 3, consisting of former NASA astronaut Michael López-Alegría (who previously commanded the station during Expedition 14), Italian astronaut Walter Villadei, ESA Swedish Project astronaut Marcus Wandt, and Turkish astronaut Alper Gezeravcı.
Events involving crewed spacecraft are listed in bold.
Previous mission: Expedition 69
27 September 2023 – Soyuz MS-23 Undocking, official switch from Expedition 69
9 October 2023 – Nauka outfitting RtoD Add-on Heat Radiator Leak Event
25/26 October 2023 – EVA 1 (VKD-61) Kononenko/Chub: 7 hrs, 41 mins [10]
1 November 2023 – EVA 2 (US-89) Moghbeli/O'Hara: 6 hrs, 42 mins [11]
11 November 2023 – CRS SpX-29 Docking
29 November 2023 – Progress MS-23/84P Undocking
3 December 2023 – Progress MS-25/86P Docking
21 December 2023 – CRS SpX-29 Undocking
22 December 2023 – CRS NG-19 Unberthing & Release
20 January 2024 – Axiom Mission 3 Docking (Non-Expedition crew)
1 February 2024 – CRS Cygnus NG-20 Capture & Berthing
7 February 2024 – Axiom Mission 3 Undocking (Non-Expedition crew)
13 February 2024 – Progress MS-24/85P Undocking
17 February 2024 – Progress MS-26/87P Docking [12]
5 March 2024 – SpaceX Crew-8 Docking [13]
10 March 2024 – ISS Expedition 70 Change of Command Ceremony from Andreas Mogensen to Oleg Kononenko
11 March 2024 – SpaceX Crew-7 Undocking
23 March 2024 – CRS SpX-30 Docking
25 March 2024 – Soyuz MS-25 Docking (Expedition 70/71 & ISS EP-21)
29 March 2024 – Kononenko and Chub's seat liner from Soyuz MS-24 swapped with Novitsky and Vasilevskaya's seat liner from Soyuz MS-25 for MS-24 landing [14]
6 April 2024 – Soyuz MS-24 Undocking, official switch to Expedition 71
Next: Expedition 71
Flight [5] | Astronaut | Increment 70a | Increment 70b | Increment 70c | Increment 70d |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
27 Sep 2023 - 5 Mar 2024 | 5 - 11 Mar 2024 | 11 - 25 Mar 2024 | 25 Mar - 6 Apr 2024 | ||
Soyuz MS-24 | Oleg Kononenko, Roscosmos Fifth spaceflight | Flight Engineer | Commander [16] | ||
Nikolai Chub, Roscosmos First spaceflight | Flight Engineer | ||||
Loral O'Hara, NASA First spaceflight | Flight Engineer | ||||
SpaceX Crew-7 | Jasmin Moghbeli, NASA First spaceflight | Flight Engineer | Off Station | ||
Andreas Mogensen, ESA Second spaceflight | Commander | Off Station | |||
Satoshi Furukawa, JAXA Second spaceflight | Flight Engineer | Off Station | |||
Konstantin Borisov, Roscosmos First spaceflight | Flight Engineer | Off Station | |||
SpaceX Crew-8 | Matthew Dominick, NASA First spaceflight | Off Station | Flight Engineer | ||
Michael Barratt, NASA Third spaceflight | Off Station | Flight Engineer | |||
Jeanette Epps, NASA First spaceflight | Off Station | Flight Engineer | |||
Alexander Grebenkin, Roscosmos First spaceflight | Off Station | Flight Engineer | |||
Soyuz MS-25 | Tracy Caldwell-Dyson, NASA Third spaceflight | Off Station | Flight Engineer |
Besides the expedition crew, Crew Dragon visited the station, carrying Axiom Mission 3, consisting of Michael López-Alegría of Axiom Space (formerly NASA), Walter Villadei of the Italian Ministry of Defence, Alper Gezeravcı of the Turkish Space Agency, and Marcus Wandt of the Swedish National Space Agency. [17]
The Soyuz MS-25 vehicle carried expedition member Tracy Caldwell-Dyson and visitors Oleg Novitsky of Roscosmos and Marina Vasilevskaya, a flight attendant trained by the Belarus Space Agency for ISS EP-21. One week after docking, Novitsky and Vasilevskaya returned with expedition member Loral O'Hara on the Soyuz MS-24 vehicle. Meanwhile, Kononenko and Chub, who launched on MS-24, returned on the MS-25 vehicle. [5]
For the first time, during 25 March–6 April 2024, all seven currently active ports of ISS were occupied. [18]
Vehicle [5] | Purpose | Port | Docking/capture date | Undocking date |
---|---|---|---|---|
Vehicles inherited from Expedition 69 | ||||
Progress MS-23/84P | Cargo | Poisk zenith | 24 May 2023 | 29 Nov 2023 |
CRS NG-19 | Cargo | Unity nadir | 4 Aug 2023 | 22 Dec 2023 |
Progress MS-24/85P | Cargo | Zvezda aft | 25 Aug 2023 | 13 Feb 2024 |
SpaceX Crew-7 "Endurance" | Exp. 69/70 crew | Harmony zenith | 27 Aug 2023 | 11 Mar 2024 |
Soyuz MS-24/70S "Antares" | Exp. 69/70 crew | Rassvet nadir | 15 Sep 2023 | 6 Apr 2024 |
Vehicles docked during Expedition 70 | ||||
CRS SpX-29 | Cargo | Harmony forward | 11 Nov 2023 | 21 Dec 2023 |
Progress MS-25/86P | Cargo | Poisk zenith | 3 Dec 2023 | 28 May 2024 (Exp. 71) |
Ax-3 "Freedom" | Visiting commercial mission | Harmony forward | 20 Jan 2024 | 7 Feb 2024 |
CRS NG-20 | Cargo | Unity nadir | 1 Feb 2024 | 12 Jul 2024 (Exp. 71) |
Progress MS-26/87P | Cargo | Zvezda aft | 17 Feb 2024 | 13 Aug 2024 (Exp. 71) |
SpaceX Crew-8 "Endeavour" | Exp. 70/71 crew | Harmony forward | 5 Mar 2024 | 23 Oct 2024 (Exp. 72) |
CRS SpX-30 | Cargo | Harmony zenith | 23 Mar 2024 | 28 Apr 2024 (Exp. 71) |
Soyuz MS-25/71S "Kazbek" | Exp. 70/71 crew, Visiting Expedition 21 | Prichal nadir | 25 Mar 2024 | 23 Sep 2024 (Exp. 71) |
The Prichal aft, forward, starboard, and aft ports all have yet to be used since the module originally docked to the station and are not included in the table.
Nauka, also known as the Multipurpose Laboratory Module, Upgrade, is the primary laboratory of the Russian Orbital Segment of the International Space Station (ISS). Serving alongside the Rassvet and Poisk mini-research modules, Nauka conducts scientific experiments and stores research equipment.
Akihiko Hoshide is a Japanese engineer, JAXA astronaut, and former commander of the International Space Station. On August 30, 2012, Hoshide became the third Japanese astronaut to walk in space.
Oleg Viktorovich Novitsky is a former Lieutenant Colonel in the Russian Air Force who logged over 700 hours of flight time and was awarded for bravery. He is currently serving as a Russian cosmonaut with Roscosmos and has participated in multiple expeditions, during which he has spent over 545 days in space.
Oleg Dmitriyevich Kononenko is a Russian cosmonaut. He has flown to the International Space Station five times as a flight engineer for Expedition 17 aboard Soyuz TMA-12, as a flight engineer on Expedition 30 and commander of Expedition 31 aboard Soyuz TMA-03M, as a flight engineer on Expedition 44 and Expedition 45 aboard Soyuz TMA-17M, as a flight engineer on Expedition 57 and commander of Expedition 58 and Expedition 59 aboard Soyuz MS-11, and as a flight engineer on Expedition 69 and Expedition 70 and commander of Expedition 71 aboard Soyuz MS-24/Soyuz MS-25.
Anton Nikolaevich Shkaplerov is a former Russian cosmonaut. He is a veteran of four spaceflights.
Tracy Caldwell Dyson is an American chemist and NASA astronaut. She was a mission specialist on Space Shuttle Endeavour flight STS-118 in August 2007 and has participated in two long-duration missions to the International Space Station, Expedition 23 and 24 from April to September 2010 and Expedition 70 and 71 from March to September 2024. She has completed four spacewalks, logging nearly 24 hours of extravehicular activity.
Soyuz MS-17 was a Soyuz spaceflight that was launched on 14 October 2020. It transported three crew members of the Expedition 63/64 crew to the International Space Station. Soyuz MS-17 was the 145th crewed flight of a Soyuz spacecraft. The crew consisted of a Russian commander and a Russian and American flight engineer.
Expedition 58 was the 58th expedition to the International Space Station, which began on December 20, 2018 with the departure of the Expedition 57 crew. It was commanded by cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, with astronauts Anne McClain and David Saint-Jacques as flight engineers; the trio launched on board Soyuz MS-11 on December 3, 2018, marking the 100th orbital launch of the year.
Expedition 59 was the 59th Expedition to the International Space Station. It started with the arrival of the Soyuz MS-12 spacecraft carrying Aleksey Ovchinin, Nick Hague and Christina Koch, joining Oleg Kononenko, David Saint-Jacques and Anne McClain who transferred from Expedition 58. The expedition formally began on March 15, 2019. Ovchinin and Hague were originally meant to fly to the ISS aboard Soyuz MS-10, but returned to Earth minutes after takeoff due to a contingency abort. The expedition formally ended with the undocking of the Soyuz MS-11 spacecraft carrying Kononenko, Saint-Jacques and McClain on 24 June 2019; Ovchinin, Hague and Koch transferred to Expedition 60.
Expedition 65 was the 65th long duration expedition to the International Space Station. The mission began on 17 April 2021 with the departure of Soyuz MS-17 and was initially commanded by NASA astronaut Shannon Walker serving as the third female ISS commander, who launched in November 2020 aboard SpaceX Crew-1 alongside NASA astronauts Michael S. Hopkins and Victor J. Glover, as well as JAXA astronaut Soichi Noguchi. They were joined by the crew of Soyuz MS-18, which is made up of Russian cosmonauts Oleg Novitsky and Pyotr Dubrov, as well as NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei.
Soyuz MS-18 was a Soyuz spaceflight that was launched on 9 April 2021 at 07:42:41 UTC. It transported three members of the Expedition 64 crew to the International Space Station (ISS). Soyuz MS-18 was the 146th crewed flight of a Soyuz spacecraft. The launching crew consisted of a Russian commander, a Russian flight engineer, and an American flight engineer of NASA. The spacecraft returned to Earth on 17 October 2021 following 191 days in space. The flight served as the landing vehicle for the Russian film director Klim Shipenko and actress Yulia Peresild who launched to the ISS aboard Soyuz MS-19 and spent twelve days in space in order to film a movie, Vyzov.
Expedition 68 was the 68th long-duration expedition to the International Space Station. The expedition began upon the departure of Soyuz MS-21 on 29 September 2022 with ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti taking over as ISS commander and ended upon the uncrewed departure of the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft on 28 March 2023.
Soyuz MS-22 was a Russian Soyuz spaceflight to the International Space Station with a crew of three launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome on 21 September 2022. The launch, previously planned for 13 September 2022, was subsequently delayed to 21 September 2022 for a mission length of 188 days.
Expedition 71 was the 71st long-duration expedition to the International Space Station. The expedition began with the departure of Soyuz MS-24 on 6 April 2024 with Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko continuing his ISS command from Expedition 70. It ended with his departure on Soyuz MS-25 with crewmates from MS-24 and MS-25 on 23 September 2024.
Soyuz MS-24, Russian production No. 755 and identified by NASA as Soyuz 70S, was a Russian crewed Soyuz spaceflight launched from Baikonur on 15 September 2023 to the International Space Station.
Expedition 69 was the 69th long-duration expedition to the International Space Station. The expedition began with the uncrewed departure of Soyuz MS-22 in March 2023 with Russian cosmonaut Sergey Prokopyev continuing his ISS command from Expedition 68. It ended with his departure with his crewmates onboard Soyuz MS-23 on 27 September 2023.
Soyuz MS-25, Russian production No. 756 and identified by NASA as Soyuz 71S, was a Russian crewed Soyuz spaceflight from Baikonur Cosmodrome to the International Space Station.
Maryna Vitaleuna Vasileuskaya is a Belarusian cosmonaut and flight attendant for Belavia Airlines. She is the first Belarusian woman to be launched into space.